DHAKA, Bangladesh — On Wednesday, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court acquitted Khaleda Zia, the former Prime Minister, in her last corruption case, allowing her to potentially participate in upcoming elections. The interim government has announced that these elections could take place either in December or within the first half of 2026.
Recently, Zia has been facing health issues and traveled to London earlier this month for medical treatment. Her acquittal follows a previous ruling that dismissed another corruption case against her, a matter that arose during the tenure of her rival, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was removed from power in a significant uprising last August after serving for 15 years.
Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina have been longstanding political adversaries, and the recent shift in the political landscape presents an opportunity for Zia to reestablish her influence. On Wednesday, a five-member panel from the Supreme Court overturned a 10-year prison sentence that had been imposed by the High Court in 2018 for allegedly misappropriating approximately $250,000 in donations intended for an orphanage trust set up when she took office in 1991.
In addition to Zia, the High Court also sentenced her son, Tarique Rahman, along with four others, to 10 years in prison regarding the same case. Rahman is considered the successor to Zia’s political legacy in a country known for its dynastic political structure. However, this ruling by the Supreme Court also exonerated Rahman and the others involved.
According to Zia’s legal team, this recent decision means she is eligible to participate in the next elections. Bangladesh law stipulates that individuals sentenced to over two years in prison are barred from running for political office for five years thereafter.
Initially, Zia was facing a cumulative 17 years of imprisonment—10 years for the orphanage trust case and an additional seven years from another corruption matter. Following the political turmoil that led to Hasina’s ouster in August, Zia was cleared of the latter charges.
Zia and her party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have consistently denied any illegal activity concerning the trust fund, asserting that the allegations were rooted in political vendetta. Zia is the widow of former President Ziaur Rahman, and Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a pivotal figure in Bangladesh’s independence.
Following her resignation in August, Hasina sought refuge in India due to violent upheaval in Bangladesh, which resulted in a significant death toll during the political unrest. Currently, she faces allegations of mass killing, with the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus seeking assistance from international authorities like Interpol for her arrest, along with a request for her extradition from India.
